Bucking the Tiger

by Marcus Galloway

  Looking at his cards, Taylor seemed reluctant to look away. All he needed to do was glance back and forth between Mike and Anders to change his mind. “I like the way these look,” Taylor said as he lowered his cards and added them to the top of the deadwood pile, “but not enough to get in between you two.”

  Anders nodded quickly and stared a set of holes through Mike’s face. “You been trying to pull this shit on me all night long. Make it another four hundred.”

  Before all of Anders’s chips were even in the middle of the table, Mike fixed him with an answering glare and waved at all his money. “Whatever I got left, it’s in the pot.”

  The deputy flinched as if he’d been jabbed in the stomach. The longer he thought about what had happened, the sicker he looked because of it. Before too long, the muscles in his jaw tensed up and the corner of his mouth started to twitch. “You’re cheating,” he wheezed.

  “One way to find out,” Mike replied in a steady voice.

  After pulling in enough breaths to fill his lungs with the smoke from other men’s cigars, Anders looked at his cards and then looked back at Mike. He looked over to the seat next to him, only to find Caleb with his face pressed against Trish’s neck and the blonde giggling quietly in his ear.

  Counting up his money, Anders muttered to himself and threw his cards away as if they’d bitten his fingers.

  Mike nodded and raked in the sizable pot.

  Leaning forward, Anders reached out to slap one hand down flat upon the pile of chips. His other hand drifted to the vicinity of his gun as he growled, “I want to see your cards.”

  “What?” Mike asked.

  Taylor scooted back a bit, but remained in his chair. “I’m afraid I’ll have to side with Mr. Lynch,” he said. “There’s no cause for him to show you what he was holding.”

  “Stay out of this,” Anders snapped without taking his eyes from Mike. “This is between me and him. I’m not asking for my money back, but I want to see what he was holding.”

  “Why?” Mike asked.

  “Because I want to make sure you weren’t cheating.”

  That brought Caleb back into the conversation in a heartbeat. “That’s a serious accusation. Why do you think Mike was cheating?”

  “Because he knew how that hand was gonna end before the cards were even dealt.”

  Even though Mike was smaller than Anders and had both hands reaching for the middle of the table instead of being anywhere near his gun, Mike held his ground without one hint of letting it go. “It’s called confidence and knowing how to play,” Mike said. “Perhaps you should look into it.”

  Choking on an obscenity, Anders stood up and knocked his chair behind him.

  “Hold on, now,” Caleb said as he got Trish off his lap and shuffled her to one side. “If you saw him cheating, let us know. Until this last hand, I’ve been getting soaked a whole lot more than you.”

  The longer he went without saying anything, the more it looked as if Anders was about to chew off his own tongue. Finally, he forced himself to say, “I didn’t see him cheating, but I know he did.”

  “You’re not broke,” Mike said. “You’ve got more than half of what you came here with, so just take it and be on your way.”

  “I’m a lawman. You can’t get away with this.”

  “This is just poker,” Mike pointed out. “It doesn’t respect any law.”

  Since there wasn’t anything else left for him to do, Anders turned on his heel and stormed away from the table.

  “Why don’t we all stretch our legs and cool off?” Caleb offered. “I’ll round up Lottie and Doc. Where the hell did they get off to, anyway?”

  14

  Considering how much attention she normally drew, it was nothing short of impressive when Lottie decided to blend into the background. For the redhead with skin that looked like poured cream, succeeding in such a feat was something close to a miracle. Sitting at a small table with her hair hanging straight along her back, Lottie sipped a drink and kept her head down while watching Caleb’s game from afar.

  Doc sat between her and most of the rest of the room, further blocking her from most folks’ view. “How’s he doing?” Doc asked.

  Lottie nodded and took another sip. “Pretty well. I don’t think he has a future in theater, but I’ve seen worse.”

  “Is your friend Taylor looking too scared?”

  “Not from what I can see. If Mike and that deputy start getting rough, though, that might change. Was that a part of your plan?”

  “Not exactly, but I should have expected as much. Caleb does enjoy his surprises.”

  “You don’t think he’s trying to sabotage this, do you?”

  “Not at all,” Doc replied without hesitation. “He’s just keeping everyone on their toes. Speaking of which, you’re playing one hell of a game, Lottie.”

  She lifted her glass in a toast. “Thanks, Doc. The same goes for you. I only picked up on your mechanics once so far. I hope you haven’t been dealing me seconds.”

  “I wouldn’t risk fixing the deal unless it was absolutely necessary. So far, I’ve mostly dealt in people’s favor.”

  “Did you learn anything?”

  Nodding, Doc said, “I’ve seen how Taylor reacts to a good hand and how he reacts to a splendid hand. I’ve even got a fairly good grasp of how he reacts to hands that tend to give a man nightmares.”

  “Like that one where you were dealt four to a straight flush?”

  Doc shifted in his chair and looked over at her to find Lottie wearing an attractive, mischievous smile. “You did that?”

  “I certainly knew you had something and that’s what I put you on. Looks like I was right.” After sipping her drink, she turned to watch the stage for a few seconds. “You do learn something every day. One thing you should learn is to stay away from women like Trish.”

  “She has her charms.”

  “I know, but her signals are sloppy and she is way too obvious when she looks at everyone’s cards.”

  “She looked at our cards?” Doc asked in shock.

  Lottie glanced over at him with a shake of her head to let him know she wasn’t buying what he was trying to sell. “If you truly couldn’t tell that much on your own, I wouldn’t have considered working with you on this.”

  “If I may be so bold,” Doc said, “why are you working with us?”

  “Pardon me?”

  “Caleb and I have been trying to get a partnership with some of the others for a while now, and nobody’s seemed interested. I could understand being hesitant at first, but I dare say we’ve proved ourselves to be good earners.”

  “There’s no question about that,” Lottie replied. “But some of the others are a little wary of you and Caleb. You two seemed to have built up a hell of a reputation back in Dallas.”

  “I see.”

  Patting Doc’s arm, Lottie added, “I’m only saying this because it’s something you should know. The saloon owners didn’t have many good things to say about you, but that was because they were worried about some sore loser knocking you over and taking his money back. As for Caleb, there’s been a whole other problem.”

  “Go on.”

  Lottie took a sip of her drink. Once the liquor worked its way through her system a bit, she seemed to find it a little easier to continue. “Caleb’s a good soul and Lord knows he’s stepped in for me when I needed it. When I heard the things I’ve heard, I knew better than to believe them.”

  “What things?”

  “Things like he’s too dangerous to work with,” Lottie said. “And that he’s a little too quick to draw his gun at the wrong moments. Apparently, there’s been some other trouble in Dallas that doesn’t sit too well with folks on the circuit. There are stories about cardplayers winning big in the place he used to own and never being seen again. Gamblers have long memories, Doc. That goes for faces and rumors just as it does for tells and odds.”

  “And what’s he supposed to have done that is so bad?” />
  “Killing that penny-ante hustler for one.”

  Doc froze with his glass raised halfway to his mouth. After thinking for a solid couple of seconds, he shook his head. “That’s something I’ve never heard of. Do you have a name to go with that?”

  “No, but there’s been a few more. Enough for us to have heard about it in Fort Griffin. If you’re truly trying to make a way for yourself in places like Denver and California, then you might want to get some distance between yourself and someone like him.” When she saw Doc grin and finally start to laugh, Lottie asked, “What’s so funny?”

  “This whole conversation. We’re taking a breather while fleecing a rich man for all he can lose and you’re worried about the ethics of my partner.”

  “For right now, I’m your partner as well, Doc. If you want to be known in a town and set up a game without having to fight for the right to do so, you should choose your company a little more wisely.”

  “You’ve spent a bit of time with Caleb. Do you believe he’s some coldhearted killer?”

  “No, but this isn’t about what I believe. There’s talk on the circuit and I thought you should know what it is. Boyer isn’t even cold in the ground yet and his people are spreading word all the way into Cheyenne.”

  “Ah.” Doc breathed into his whiskey glass. “The infamous Tiger rears its ugly head.”

  “Caleb was asking me about that,” Lottie said, “and I don’t think he appreciates what I told him. Killing Boyer earned you some praise, but it’ll cause you a whole lot more grief.”

  “It will if the Tiger is only wounded and left alone,” Doc said. “Any animal becomes more dangerous in that situation.”

  Lottie shifted and leaned forward so she could be heard when she lowered her voice. “The Tiger isn’t just some legend and he’s no joke.”

  “Then maybe he should have picked a more adult name.”

  “Joke all you want. More folks around here listen to the Tiger than they do to you.”

  “Things can change,” Doc said. “They always do.”

  “Nothing needs to change right now,” came a voice from behind Lottie, which was followed by a hand dropping onto Doc’s shoulder.

  Caleb stepped up to the table and pulled up a chair for himself. “Mike just took out Deputy Anders. It was beautiful.”

  “Then I guess I’d better get back to the game,” Lottie said as her familiar smile returned. When she stood up and tossed her hair over one shoulder, she practically beamed with a radiant beauty that was impossible to duplicate. “You boys better not keep me waiting.”

  After Lottie was gone, Doc shook his head and emptied his whiskey glass. “Women like that make me yearn for the girls I knew in Georgia.”

  “Is Mattie the one you’re talking about?” Caleb asked.

  Doc’s head snapped around and his eyes narrowed. “What are you saying about her?”

  “Easy, Doc. Just taking a guess. After all those letters she sent you in Dallas, I figured she had to be someone special. Speaking of which, I’d wager there were a few of those waiting for you back in Denison.”

  “Right. And that’s where they’ll stay.”

  “Is she someone who might pull you back into Georgia and away from this life of sin and debauchery?”

  Doc chuckled once under his breath and then let out a full-fledged laugh. “Now, why on earth would I want to leave behind a perfectly good slice of sin and debauchery? Now that you mentioned sin, I have been thinking about one in particular.”

  “If it involves you and Trish before the game started, then I don’t want to hear about it.”

  “Not that, although that was fairly…Never mind. The sin I was thinking about was murder.”

  “Huh?”

  Putting a steely edge into his voice, Doc said, “As in, I should kill you for inviting that badge-wearing son of a bitch into this game. That prick could ruin everything.”

  “That lawdog’s been sniffing around a lot of the games in town trying to get in on one of them,” Caleb explained. “Soon as I invited him to ours, he backed off the rest. It’s caused a hell of a lot of goodwill around here. Besides, you’re the one who’s always talking about expecting the unexpected and all of that. What better way to practice your mechanics than when you’re being watched by a lawman? It’s bound to happen sooner or later.”

  “Actually, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

  “And he won’t even be there for the rest of the game.”

  “Mike cleaned him out?”

  “He got him out of the game, and I doubt he’ll be wanting to get into another one anytime soon.”

  “He was just looking for a percentage of the profits, Caleb,” Doc said. “You should have paid him off and been done with it.”

  “I don’t like being shoved around, Doc. Especially by the law.”

  “I know how you feel. Too late to fret about it now. Mike was all too eager to divert that deputy’s attention. Now that he’s gone, we can get right back to the business at hand. That is, unless Taylor has left us.”

  “He hasn’t,” Caleb said. “In fact, he seemed to enjoy watching the fireworks when Mike and Anders locked horns.”

  “Probably just the sort of thing he was looking for. I’d imagine having a lawman at the table even lent our game that much more credence in his eyes.”

  “We’ll see.”

  “Does he suspect that we’re not actually about to throw punches at each other?” Doc asked.

  “I don’t think so, but he might be suspicious if he catches us talking like this.”

  “Nice touch with the whore, by the way,” Doc added.

  Caleb averted his eyes and tapped his boot against the table leg. “Yeah. She worked out pretty good.”

  “She was a perfect reason for us to bicker. She also did a good job of tipping me to a few of the hands Taylor was playing. I’ve got a real good eye for the man by now.”

  “Looked to me like you had your eye on something else before the game.”

  Shrugging, Doc said, “I am only human, after all. She offered to help and I accepted after a bit of convincing.”

  “Since you got the convincing, you can pay her out of your cut.”

  “Are you serious?”

  Caleb cocked his head and fixed Doc with a look that showed him just how serious he was.

  When he leaned forward to meet that glare, Doc wheezed slightly and forced himself to hold back the coughing fit that was scratching at the back of his throat. “And whatever money of ours that deputy walked away with will come out of your cut.”

  “That’s fair.”

  Doc offered his hand and Caleb shook it. Even after all the whiskey Doc had ingested and all the coughing he’d done, his cool, bony hand was still able to maintain a powerful grip.

  “Now,” Doc said, “let’s play our parts and fleece this lamb that Lottie was so kind to bring to our table.”

  15

  Hours passed and the music inside the Beehive finally started to fade. Even after the dancers got tired and found other things to keep them occupied, there was always some sort of commotion in the back half of the saloon. As the first rays of the sun broke across the sky, nobody at Caleb’s table noticed. They were too busy managing their cards and guarding their chips.

  The chair between Taylor and Caleb was once again empty, but it hadn’t been that way the entire night. After Anders had made his exit, a few other brave souls sat down there, only to be snapped like a dry twig in a hurricane. The gamblers had played together for too long and were too intent on their purposes to be affected by a new face. As morning turned into afternoon, the saloon was quieter than it had been all night. By that time, the gamblers and drunks were the only ones there, and music didn’t do much to soothe their souls.

  Lottie and Mike were doing fairly well for themselves and had a decent amount of chips to prove it.

  Caleb wasn’t so lucky and had fought tooth and nail to stay in the game during some of the bloodie
r skirmishes. The main reason he was still in the game at all was the increasing skill shown in Doc’s dealing. Even as Doc unleashed a series of brutal coughs, he still managed to get his hands on the right cards and send them Caleb’s way when they were needed.

  But Doc wasn’t completely unselfish in that regard. Knowing what to look for, Caleb spotted some of Doc’s fancy mechanics used to fix the deal. But that didn’t explain how he won so many hands that he didn’t deal. Doc’s skill at the game shone through all the whiskey he drank and all the blood he coughed into his handkerchief.

  And yet, somehow, Taylor’s winnings rivaled Doc’s. At times, they even eclipsed his.

  Caleb looked down at his cards and had to blink away the fog that came from lack of sleep. They’d been playing for the better part of a day, and those hours were wreaking havoc on Caleb inside and out, top to bottom. At first, Caleb thought he had a straight, but then he blinked and saw another batch of the same crap that Taylor had been dealing him all night.

  “I’ll bet twenty,” Caleb said without flinching.

  “Sure you can afford that much?” Lottie asked.

  Caleb actually looked down at his chips before he realized she’d been kidding. “I can afford it,” he said. “Especially when I take this hand.”

  She tossed her chips in and gave him a consoling rub on the shoulder.

  Without looking at his cards, Doc said, “Make it three hundred more.”

  Caleb didn’t have to do one bit of acting when he glared across at the other man’s sunken face and growled, “That’s all I got left.”

  “I believe you’re thirty-five dollars short, but I’ll let you float if you want to call. That is, if nobody objects.”

  “Don’t matter what I say,” Mike said as he pitched his cards lazily in Doc’s direction rather than to the dealer. Although he got a stern glare from Taylor, Mike appeared to be too close to keeling over from exhaustion to notice.

  “No offense, Caleb,” Taylor said, “but considering your luck these last few hands, I’d call whatever bet you made and would take any marker you offered.”